Spider House Wednesday 9.00pm BBC4
Spiders WILDLIFE SPECIAL
GETTY; ALAMY; NATUREPL.COM
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ome love them, most hate them. One thing’s for sure, though – at the moment you simply can’ t avoid them. Spiders. They’re everywhere. A mild spring and warm summer has created a perfect storm of conditions for arachnids to thrive. And they’re doing so in your home. “Lots of fruit on the trees meant lots of flying insects, which in turn has meant lots of spiders,” says zoologist Tim Cockerill, who, along with Alice Roberts, presents BBC4’s Spider House, a documentary exploring arachnid antics. “And this is the time of year when the males mature and start wandering about looking for a mate. So if you see them scurrying around, that’s what’s on their mind.” Cockerill is someone who falls very definitely into the “love ‘em” category. Consider this: “Watching a zebra jumping spider hunt its prey is more impressive to me than watching lions hunt in the Serengeti.” Which is fine, except the jumping spider in question has almost certainly taken up residence in a snug corner of your home. So, too, the false widow spider (see right), a relative of the much-feared black widow. So should we be afraid, or even very afraid? Cockerill scoffs: “Pretty much all spiders are venomous – the question is are their fangs big enough to penetrate the skin, and is the venom going to be dangerous? While there are a handful of species in the UK that have fangs big enough to penetrate human skin, they don’t have potent venom. But they won’t bite unless really threatened – you’d pretty much have to sit on it.” But come on. Nobody fancies having a relative of a black widow as a lodger. Do they? “The false widow is the one that gets the bad press, but its bite is no worse than a bee sting, and while there are an average of four or five deaths from bee or wasp stings every year, there have been no recorded incidents or symptoms involving the false widow. Tabloid journalists appear to have been the only ones affected!” So if they are harmless, why do they scare many of us half to death? “There’s a lot of debate about that,” says Cockerill. “Is it something deep within our evolutionary consciousness that we’ve inherited, or is it just something that we’ve learned from our parents? Personally, I don’t understand it. There is no reason why we should be afraid. They’re things of great fascination and ingenuity. They just make you gasp with amazement” – substitute “horror” if you don’t agree – “when you see them.” If you’re still not convinced, avoid the creepy crawlies with Cockerill’s guide to which spiders are living in your home, and where you’ll find them. TERRY PAYNE
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in your home It’s been a bumper year for spiders – here’s zoologist Tim Cockerill’s guide to your house guests
Giant house spider Eratigena atrica
This is the absolute monster spider that you see running around the floor, and it’s the spider that makes cobwebs in the corner of the room. It uses its web in a very specific way. Their cobweb is not a sticky structure — it’s just a large sheet that entraps and entangles an insect. The spider will be sitting in the corner with its “fingers” out on signal lines attached to the web, and when it feels a vibration it knows exactly what’s happening. It can tell whether it’s a male spider making amorous advances or whether it’s an insect supper. Found scuttling across the floor in search of a mate
RadioTimes 25–31 October 2014
False widow spider Steatoda nobilis
There are several species of the false widow in the UK. It’s in the same family as the black widow spider and looks like it but is harmless. They came over here in the late 19th century on ships, probably from the Canary Islands, and have settled in very well. Because it’s difficult for people to distinguish between different species, false widows often get blamed for any spider bites because there’s so much press coverage about them. But their mating sequence alone proves that they are much maligned. The male false widow goes up to the female and delicately starts plucking the “strings” of its web. It reminds me of a harp player. It’s trying to signal to the female saying “I’m not a fly caught in your web, I’m a mate, so go easy on me.” Who could hate a spider that does that? Found everywhere, but especially cupboards and warmer parts of the house
Zebra jumping spider Salticus scenicus
This is the smallest of the five spiders you’re most likely to find in UK homes, but it’s the most charismatic. This is a hunting spider. It has eight eyes, like many spiders, but has one pair right at the very front that are huge, which enable it to stalk its prey. They can judge distance very accurately and when they get close enough they will make this almighty pounce, all the time anchored from behind by a line of silk they have produced. Watching a zebra jumping spider hunt its prey is more impressive to me than watching lions hunt in the Serengeti. Found in conservatories and on sunny exterior walls — but they may also follow their prey inside
Garden orb-weaver Araneus diadematus
This spider makes the classic orb web — the large flat design with spokes — and it’s a masterpiece of engineering. It’s one of the most incredible spectacles of nature you can see. And not only are they expert engineers, they’re experts on insect behaviour as well. They’ll create their webs near currents of air, such as an open window, where they know flying insects move along. Generally they’ll make it overnight, ready for the insects to fly into in the morning. In terms of body size they’re one of the biggest in the UK — at this time of year they go on a bit of a feeding frenzy and their abdomens can be at least as big as your thumbnail. Found around windows and doorways — and in the garden, as its name suggests
RadioTimes 25–31 October 2014
Daddy long legs spider Pholcus phalangioides
A few things get called daddy long legs, including the crane fly, which you see a lot of at this time of year. It’s a very cumbersome spider; the legs can be as long as 5cm — I can’t think of a spider in the UK with longer legs. It likes to hang upside down in its web so you’re unlikely to see it wandering about. If it is disturbed it will do something called “whirling”, where it spins itself around incredibly rapidly untli it becomes a blur. But it can be a very aggressive hunter, invading the webs of other spiders and eating them. Found in cellars and bathrooms, and places with a constant temperature
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